1. Technical Field
This document relates to methods and materials involved in identifying mammals having lung adenocarcinoma characterized by neuroendocrine differentiation as well as methods and materials involved in treating mammals having lung adenocarcinoma characterized by neuroendocrine differentiation. For example, this document provides methods and materials for using achaete-scute homolog 1 (ASCL1) and RET expression levels to identify lung cancer patients having lung adenocarcinoma characterized by neuroendocrine differentiation.
2. Background Information
The clinical significance of neuroendocrine (NE) differentiation in lung adenocarcinoma, and the most appropriate biomarkers for this assessment, has been long debated. In the absence of a gold standard, investigators have most commonly used immunohistochemistry (IHC) of one or a combination of neuroendocrine markers, such as chromogranin (CHGA), synaptophysin (SYP), neuron-specific enolase (NSE), or neural cell adhesion molecule (CD56/NCAM) to assess the role of neuroendocrine differentiation in lung cancer survival.